Parliament Question: New Railway Line Projects in Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2853 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2026 NEW RAILWAY LINE PROJECTS IN TAMIL NADU 2853. SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has sanctioned new railway line projects in Tamil Nadu in recent years and if so, the details thereof including total length, cost, and districts covered; (b) whether limited portion of the sanctioned railway lines has been completed till now and if so, the details thereof including the reasons for delay and timelines for its completion; (c) whether Government has undertaken railway expansion projects including doubling, gauge conversion and multi-tracking in Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof including the current status; (d) whether Government has identified unserved or under-served districts in Tamil Nadu for new railway connectivity and if so, the details thereof including the action taken; and (e) whether ongoing railway projects are aimed at improving connectivity to industrial and port regions in Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof including the expected economic benefits? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Tamil Nadu:- Railway Budget:- Budget allocation in recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in § Page 1 of 7the State of Tamil Nadu is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹879 crore/year 2026-27 ₹ 7,611 crore (more than 8 times) Track Construction: The details of constructing new track falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are as under: Period New track Commissioned 2009-14 923 Km 2014-26 1,356 Km Projects sanctioned:- As on 01.04.2026, 19 projects (08 new line, 03 gauge conversion and 08 doubling) of total length of 1,874 km, costing ₹27,282 Crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu have been sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Total Exp. projects Length Commissioned upto March, (in km) upto March, 2026 2026 (in Km) (₹ in Cr.) New Line 8 811 24 1,514 Gauge 3 748 631 3,605 Conversion Doubling 8 314 54 3,693 /Multitracking Total 19 1,874 709 8,811 Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are as under:- Page 2 of 7S.N. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Dindigul- Pollachi gauge conversion (121 km) 610 2 Pollachi-Palghat gauge conversion (56 km) 350 3 Pollachi-Podhanur gauge conversion (40 km) 400 4 Quilon- Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km) 1,122 5 Mayiladuturai - Karaikkudi gauge conversion (187 1,338 km) 6 Madurai-Bodinayakkanur gauge conversion (90 km) 593 7 Chengalpattu-Villupuram doubling (102 km) 670 8 Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km) 83 9 Thanjavur-Ponmalai doubling (48 km) 370 10 Villupuram-Dindigul doubling (273 km) 2,000 11 Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km) 293 12 Omalur-Metturdam Patch doubling (29 km) 327 13 Chengalpattu - Villupuram and Tambaram - 1,122 Chengalpattu-3rd line (133 km) 14 Salem- Omalur doubling (11 km) 115 15 Madurai- Tuticorin doubling (160 km) 1,891 16 Maniyachi-Nagercoil doubling (102 km) 1,752 17 Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore doubling (4 km) 272 Ongoing Projects:- Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu which have been taken up are as under: Cost S.N. Project (₹ in Crores) 1 Tindivanam-Nagari new line (184 km) 3,631 2 Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km) 359 Page 3 of 7Cost S.N. Project (₹ in Crores) 3 Trivandrum-Kanyakumari doubling (87 km) 4,494 4 Irugur-Podanur doubling (11 km) 277 5 Tambaram-Chengalpattu 4th line (30 km) 757 6 Attipattu-Gummidipundi 3rd & 4th line (23 km) 365 7 Tirupati- Katpadi doubling (105 km) 1,216 8 Tindivanam- Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km) 1,400 9 Atipattu – Puttur new line (88 km) 1,700 10 Chennai – Cuddalore new line (179 km) 2,670 11 Baiyapannahalli to Hosur doubling (48 km) 1,160 12 Arakkonam-Chengalpattu doubling (68 km) 993 13 Erode- Karur doubling (67 km) 986 Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under: Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu 4,612 ha Land Acquired 1,178 ha (26%) Balance Land to be acquired 3,434 ha (74%) Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition. Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:- SN Name of the project Total Land Balance land acquired Land to required (in ha) be (in ha) acquired (in ha) 1. Tindivanam-Tiruvannamalai new 276 33 243 Page 4 of 7line (71 km) 2. Attiputtu-Puttur new line (88 km) 189 0 189 3. Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 93 47 46 km) 4. Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new line 204 0 204 (41 km) 5. Thanjavur-Pattukottai new line (52 152 0 152 km) Further, Rameshwaram – Dhanushkodi new line (18 km) was sanctioned at a cost of ₹734 Cr. The Foundation Stone of the project was laid on 01.03.2019. However, the project could not be started because the land acquisition has not been undertaken by the State Govt. of Tamil Nadu. Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Tamil Nadu. In last three years i.e. 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and current financial year 2026-27, 29 surveys (04 new line and 25 doubling) covering a total length of 3,517 km falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu has been sanctioned. Moreover, to improve further connectivity in the State of Tamil Nadu following major surveys have been taken up:- S. Project Length No. (in Km) 1 Tindivanam-Sedarapet New Line 38 2 Villupuram-Tiruchchirappalli-Nagercoil 3rd & 4th line 565 3 Arakkonam-Jolarpettai 3rd & 4th Line 407 4 Coimbatore-Shoranur 3rd & 4th Line 99 5 Jolarpettai-Coimbatore 3rd & 4th Line 282 6 Thanjavur-Thiruvarur - Karaikal doubling 96 7 Arakkonam-Chengalpattu Doubling 68 8 Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai-Thanjavur Doubling 193 9 Arakkonam-Renigunta 3rd & 4th Line 77 10 Gummidipoondi-Sullurupeta 3rd & 4th Line 90 11 Bangarpete - Jolarpettai 3rd & 4th Line 73 Page 5 of 712 Ariyalur-Namakkal via Perambalur New Line 116 Sanction of any railway project depends upon many parameters/factors which include the following:  Anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project  Connection of missing links and providing additional route  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives  Railway’s own operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds Railway Infrastructure projects enable socio-economic development of the region including:  Better integration of the region with other parts of the country  Faster movement of goods and services  Improving logistics efficiency  Enhance line capacity  Increase in direct and indirect employment opportunities for the people of the region  Reduces operational bottlenecks  Development of tourism industry and increase in industrial activities in the region. Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:  Land acquisition by State Government  Forest clearance Page 6 of 7 Shifting of infringing utilities  Statutory clearances from various authorities  Geological and topographical conditions of area  Law and order situation in the area of project site  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s. ***** Page 7 of 7